


I Could Make It Alright

by axton_writes



Series: 9-1-1 Drabbles [3]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Freeform, Hate Crimes, M/M, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:33:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23646208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axton_writes/pseuds/axton_writes
Summary: Buck lands himself in the hospital again. Nobody knows why, but everyone knows Eddie found him.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: 9-1-1 Drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689991
Comments: 5
Kudos: 426





	I Could Make It Alright

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song Anytime by Kelly Clarkson (an absolute bop btw)

He always hated how stark hospitals were. 

Ever since the day his son was born, Eddie hated hospitals. Too white, too sterile, always smelled of alcohol and felt like the end of something that hadn’t had a chance to begin. He hated hospitals. 

He especially hated how Buck looked in a hospital, which was slowly becoming a norm. 

White, starched sheets that made him look so much paler than normal, the contrast to angry, red cuts on his face, arms having been gently bandaged and were still seeping with fresh blood due to the blood thinners he was being weaned off of. The blanket had been pulled up to his chest, where the top of a bandage peeked out. 

Eddie sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before looking back up to search for signs of Buck waking up, and he settled on staring at the monitor, trying to ignore the annoying beeping that was beginning to get on his nerves. 

A knock made him jump and he turned to see Bobby in the doorway, two coffee cups in his hands. Eddie let out another sigh and got up, making sure to be quiet, before meeting Bobby just outside the door. 

“How’s he doing?”

Eddie took one of the cups from Bobby and took a sip, wincing at the grittiness of the hospital coffee. 

“Doctor said he’ll be out of it for a while, judging by the amount of pain killers they got in him. He’s going to wake up sore as hell, but he’ll live.” He looked down to his cup before back up to Bobby. “How did this happen?”

Bobby looked around Eddie to take a quick look at Buck before looking back at him, and he placed a hand on his shoulder.

“He’ll tell you; he trusts you. For now, we just need to wait until he wakes up to see what’s going on.”

Eddie nodded, and before he could make a second thought, he pulled Bobby in for a hug, searching for the fatherly comfort he needed. 

“Thanks, Bobby.”

Bobby patted him on the back before pulling away. 

“ Hen’s going to pick up some food for us. I’ll come get you when she comes back, okay?”

Eddie nodded and turned to go back into the room, taking another sip of his coffee. 

=+=

Even after a cup of coffee, Eddie found himself dozing on and off in the uncomfortable chair, finding himself between dreams of calls and staring at Buck’s face, wondering what could have happened that left Buck such a mess. He blinked slowly, dozing off again as he stared at Buck. 

Buck had a bruise beginning to form just under his left eye, making his birthmark pop out even more than normal. His eyelashes were so delicately laid on his cheekbones, and his lips were slightly parted as he slept, still as full and pink as when Eddie had first seen them. His neck, going down to his collarbone, was dotted with large bruises and thin cuts, and the bandage began right at his sternum, making Eddie wonder about the extent of the damage. 

“Jesus, Eddie, he’s alive. You don’t have to keep looking at him like that.”

Eddie jumped in his chair and turned to look at the door, where Chimney was now casually leaning, having his arms crossed over his chest and his brow raised towards him. Eddie cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter, a pink flush beginning to creep up his neck. 

“Sorry, Chim. It’s been a long day.”

Chimney pushed himself off of the frame, moving to grab the empty chair outside of the room and quietly bringing it in, setting it near Eddie. 

“I know what it’s like, seeing someone you care about in pain and not being able to do anything about it. My mom, when she had cancer, wouldn’t let me come with her when she had her treatments, said it wasn’t something I should be burdened with. When she started getting worse, I was the one who drove her to the appointments. I learned how to provide hospice care for her before she died. It changed me.” He looked at Buck before turning back to Eddie. “It’s hard, but at least he has people who care about him.”

Eddie nodded and looked at his hands, playing with the skin on his thumb. 

“You should have seen him, Howie.” 

He looked up at Chimney, his eyes bloodshot and red around the rims. 

“I know, Eddie.” He patted him on the shoulder before standing up and stretching his arms over his head. “I’m  gonna go on an actual coffee run, I don’t think I can stand to drink another cup of that stuff.”

Eddie cracked a small smile and nodded. 

“Two sugars?”

Chimney stood at attention and gave Eddie a mock salute. 

“Aye, aye, captain.”

He turned around and left, and Eddie sighed, scooting down in his chair. He closed his eyes, and soon drifted off. 

=+=

Chimney came back with his coffee as promised, black with two sugars, and he took a small sip, deciding to get up and stretch his legs. He made his way from the room to the waiting room, where everyone had set up camp. Bobby and Athena, sitting next to each other reading the same article from a magazine, Hen reading a story to Denny while Karen took care of Nina, their newest member of the family, and Maddie, who had just gotten off work, ran up to him, pulling him into a hug. 

“Howie told me what was going on. Are you okay?”

Eddie set his coffee on one of the tables before pulling her in, squeezing a little bit tighter. 

“I’m okay, Maddie. I’m more worried about Buck.”

She pulled away and placed a hand on the side of his face. 

“I’m just glad you found him when you did.”

Eddie shrugged a little before biting his lip. 

“I can’t believe I found him like that.”

Maddie turned to Chimney, who put an arm around her waist. She took her hand off of Eddie and turned to go with Chimney, and Athena was the next to pull Eddie into a hug. 

“Buck is a strong man, he’ll pull through.”

Eddie nodded and pulled back from Athena. 

“I know. I’m just worried.”

Athena patted his cheek. 

“We all are.”

She turned and went back to Bobby, leaving Eddie standing in the waiting room. He turned to go back to Buck’s room, but he heard the clacking noise of Christopher’s crutches, and his heart sank. He looked down the hall to see Christopher and Carla making their way slowly towards them. Eddie set his coffee down and walked down halfway to meet them, and he kneeled so he could give his son a hug. A piece of paper was pressed against Eddie’s back as Christopher hugged him.

“Hey buddy, I thought you were going to Abuela’s for a sleepover.”

Christopher nodded and pulled away, looking up to Carla. 

“Carla said, she said Buck got hurt, and I made Buck a card. I wanted to see him, see him before we go to Abuela’s. Carla said you wouldn’t mind.”

Carla smiled down to Christopher, and a flash of sadness went through Eddie’s eyes. 

“Of course, buddy. You can leave the card for when he wakes up, okay? We just have to be very quiet, Buck’s still sleeping.”

Carla reached down to take Christopher’s crutches from him and Eddie stood up, picking up his son. 

“Tell Buck I hope he feels better when he wakes up. That kid’s been through too much already.”

Eddie nodded to Carla before walking down the hall to Buck’s room. 

“Remember, buddy, we have to be very quiet.”

He walked in, holding his son to his chest before sitting down and turning Christopher around so he could sit on his lap and look at Buck. Christopher looked at Buck quietly, not saying anything or moving around much. 

“Dad,” he whispered.

“Yeah, buddy?”

Christopher pointed at Buck before looking up to Eddie. 

“What happened to my Buck?”

Eddie bit his lip, looking up to Buck before back down to Christopher. 

“Buck got hurt, buddy. He’s going to be okay. Right now, he needs to sleep. Come on, do you want to say hi to everyone before you go see Abuela?”

Christopher nodded and Eddie picked him back up, taking him out to the waiting room.

=+=

Eddie pulls his hand back and begins his ministrations again. He runs his fingers through Buck’s curly hair, drags his finger behind Buck’s ear and down his jaw, pulls his hand back, and does it again. He’s so deep in thought and dazed that he doesn’t notice the first signs of Buck waking up, or that Buck’s eyes have been fluttering open and closed for the past thirty seconds. 

It takes Buck making a small noise in the back of his throat for Eddie to realize he’s waking up, and he immediately stops what he’s doing and reaches down to tenderly take his hand into his own. 

Buck blinks up at the ceiling, the clarity soon coming back into his eyes, and he looks around for a moment before looking down and finding Eddie staring intently at him. He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them back up, seeing Eddie finally lean forward and press a soft kiss to his lips. 

Buck hesitates for a moment before kissing him back, and Eddie pulls away a moment later, bringing Buck’s hand up to his mouth and pressing a kiss to his cut and bruised skin. 

They stay quiet for a minute, Eddie making sure he isn’t dreaming, and Buck finally tries to speak up. 

“Eddie, I-”

“You died on me, Evan Buckley.”

Buck closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking at Eddie. 

“Eddie, I-”

“You died. In the ambulance and on the table.”

Buck looked to the side before looking down. Eddie held onto his hand like it was a lifeline, his eyes finally brimming with tears, and he could blame it all he wanted on the exhaustion, but he knew better. 

“Evan, what happened?”

Buck looked up for a moment and he shook his head. 

“This isn’t the time to talk about it.”

Eddie nodded, using his free hand to wipe his cheeks. 

“I’ll tell you when we’re home, okay?”

Eddie nodded and Buck finally looked down at himself. 

The wounds on his arms had finally stopped seeping with blood, and the bruise under his eye was settled on a dark red. Buck pulled back the blanket, wincing as he moved, and he looked down at the extensive wrapping that covered his chest. He looked back up to Eddie. 

“How bad was it?”

Eddie just nodded before giving Buck’s hand a gentle squeeze. 

“It was... you could smell the blood to the street. Everywhere, Evan. I didn’t think you were alive.”

Eddie finally let the tears fall and a broken sob left his body, letting go of Buck’s hand to press his palms into his eyes. Buck sat up a little more and reached over, pulling Eddie down and into his neck, rubbing his hand to the back of Eddie’s neck. 

“Hey, hey, Eds, it’s okay now. I’m here.”

They sat like that until Eddie could finally take a deep breath, and he wiped his eyes again. 

“Everyone’s here, Evan. Bobby, Athena, Chim, Hen, Karen, Maddie... they all came.”

Buck looked at the door before looking back to Eddie. 

“Not yet, okay? This is our time.”

Eddie nodded and picked up the card that was laid on the side table. 

“Chris made you a card.”

Buck’s eyes filled with worry. 

“Christopher was here?”

Eddie smiled.

“He wanted to give his Buck a card.”

Buck looked at the card, with a picture of a man on fire, and the words ‘get well soon’ written in crayon on the inside. Buck smiled and set it down. 

“He’s so sweet.”

“He’s going to be at Abuela’s for the next few nights. I didn’t want him to worry about you.”

Buck placed his hand on the back of Eddie’s neck and pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

“I’ll be okay. How about we get my sister in here before she kills you?”

=+=

Eddie unlocked the front door and toed it open, dropping the duffle on the floor with one arm and keeping his other firmly around Buck’s waist. Buck leaned against Eddie, and once he was safely deposited on the couch, he began to toe off his shoes. Eddie closed the door and locked it, going to Buck and helping him take off his shoes. 

“Let’s get you to bed.”

Buck pouted, but Eddie leaned down and kissed it away. 

“You’ll feel better in cleaner clothes and a more comfortable bed.”

Buck smiled. 

“You take such good care of me.”

Eddie wrapped his arm around his waist, gently pulling Buck back up. 

They made their way down the hall, Eddie making sure to push the loose toys out of Buck’s way, and he pushed the door open, finally maneuvering Buck down and onto the edge of the bed, where he could properly help him undress. Buck bit his lip and looked down at his feet as Eddie began to gently peel off his dirty sweatpants, revealing the bloody gauze and bruises. He tossed the fabric aside, moving up to his shirt, moving slowly and carefully, soon exposing the large wrap on Buck’s torso, and he set the shirt aside. Buck waited as Eddie left the room to pick up his duffle bag from where he left it, coming back and pulling on a pair of blue gloves. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up, mi amor.”

Eddie pulled out a little paper bag full of prescriptions and spare gauze, being mindful of what to change and what to leave on. 

He pulled the gauze off of Buck’s arms, inspecting his wounds before dabbing on the antibiotic ointment and placing fresh gauze over them. Buck bit his lip a little harder, a whine escaping from the back of his throat. 

“I know, I’ll get you some meds soon. Just have to get you cleaned up first.”

Eddie worked his way up to Buck’s face, looking at a small cut on his cheek that was patched with a butterfly bandage, and he used the angle to lean down and pepper soft kisses to Buck’s face, finally landing a kiss on his lips, and Buck hummed, pulling Eddie closer with a hand to the back of his neck. Eddie pulled away after a few moments, taking a deep breath. 

“ Gotta slow down, Evan. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Buck let out a little laugh, and he pulled Eddie back. 

“I love you.”

Eddie pressed another kiss to his lips. 

“I love you, too.”

He pulled away, Buck finally letting go of him, and he pulled his gloves off, tossing them into the garbage. He pulled out a light grey Henley and a pair of joggers, setting them on the bed for Buck, and he went to the bathroom, filling a glass of water. He came back to the bedroom, fishing out Buck’s painkillers from the bag of prescriptions, and he set the bottle on the night stand. 

“Thank you, Eddie. For taking care of me.”

Eddie picked up the Henley and moved to stand in front of Buck, running a hand through his hair again, making Buck lean into the touch. 

“Why wouldn’t I take care of you, you’re my husband.”

Buck’s face flushed bright red and he looked down sheepishly. 

“God, I love it when you call me that.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow.

“What? My  _ husband _ ?”

Buck blushed harder and Eddie used the distraction to pull the shirt onto Buck. 

“Yeah, that.”

He pushed his arms through the sleeves, wincing for a moment. 

“It’s only been, what, three months since we’ve been married,” Eddie continued the conversation, trying to distract Buck. “Never once in my life did I think I’d be this happy with someone. Especially after Shannon.”

He grabbed the sweats from the bed and Buck looked down. 

“Neither did I. Especially after Abby.”

Eddie helped him stand up, pulling the pants up, and he hummed. 

“It just took some bad experiences to get us together I guess.”

He handed Buck his pills and once they were taken and both men were satisfied, Eddie guided him into bed, soon climbing in and cuddling up to his back, being mindful of where Buck was hurting. 

Eddie was nearly asleep when Buck let out a sigh. 

“I came out to my parents today.”

Eddie jerked his head up a little from where it was pressed against Buck’s neck and he let out a little noise of dissatisfaction. 

“Huh?”

Buck began to turn himself around, wincing at the sore spots, and soon he was face to face with Eddie. 

“I came out to my parents today. Even told them I got married.”

The clarity came back to Eddie’s eyes and he grabbed Buck’s hands. 

“Evan, is that how-”

“My dad kicked me out before I could even explain.”

Buck’s blue eyes filled with sadness and fear, and Eddie squeezed his hands. 

“I’m so sorry, Evan.”

Buck shook his head. 

“Not your fault. My brother followed me out, cornered me when I left the bar.”

Eddie’s stomach began to turn, and he swallowed. 

“Evan-”

“He kept yelling; I didn’t know what he was saying. I couldn’t make anything out. He pushed me up against a wall, and he let go of me. I tried to leave, Eddie, I tried to call you. He found a bottle and threw it at me, then he found that board.” Buck squeezed his eyes shut. “He kept hitting me, he only stopped when someone walked by.”

Eddie grabbed the back of Buck’s head, pulling him down to his chest. 

“Shh, baby, it’s okay.”

He could feel his blood begin to boil, and he knew if he didn’t calm down, he would end up in jail or worse. So, instead of letting his anger get to him, he held his Buck close to his chest, letting him cry as hard as he wanted. 

Eddie soon pressed his face into Buck’s hair, knowing he was getting him wet with tears, but he didn’t care. 

Buck soon fell asleep, still curled into Eddie’s chest, and Eddie pressed a kiss to his head. 

They would be okay. 

He would be okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you need to know how I come up with the majority of the bullshit I write, here's the formula:
> 
> 1\. Go on tumblr and feel some feels, mostly just look at gifs of your ship  
> 2\. Run on less than 4 hours of sleep  
> 3\. Find a cheesy song you can listen to on repeat for 3 straight hours  
> 4\. Drink too much caffeine  
> 5\. Write 3k words at midnight  
> 6\. Post it
> 
> Congratulations! You now have 4000 new unfinished projects you'll never come back to!


End file.
